Aluminum deoxidation equilibrium in liquid Ni-Fe alloys equilibrated with CaO-Al2O3 slags

The deoxidation equilibrium for Al in Ni-Fe alloys was studied in the equilibrium experiments between CaO-Al₂O₃ slags and Fe-30, 50 and 70 % Ni alloys at 1873 K. By using the values for the first and second order interaction parameters between oxygen and nickel in liquid iron and those between oxygen and iron in liquid nickel, the effect of Ni on the activity coefficient of Al in liquid iron and that of Fe on the activity coefficient of Al in liquid nickel were determined in the whole composition range of Ni-Fe alloys. The oxygen contents in Ni-Fe alloys calculated by the iterative method based on pure iron were in good agreement with those based on pure nickel in the range of [% Al] < 0.03. From this fact, it was found that the Wagner's approximation relating to the multi-component solution was applicable to the deoxidation equilibrium in the whole composition range of Ni-Fe alloys in the restricted concentration of a deoxidizer.     

Numerical analysis of the warpage problem in TSOP

The reliability and the solderability of thin small outline package (TSOP) are significantly affected by the warpage that is generated after epoxy molding compound (EMC) molding process. This warpage problem mainly results from the mismatch of material properties such as Young's modulus, Poisson's ratio and coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) and the geometric structure of each component for TSOP. The optimization of both material properties and geometric structures using the numerical analysis is necessary to reduce the warpage of TSOP. However, there are still some limitations for the numerical analysis to obtain proper results consistent with the practical warpage values. In this paper, the numerical analysis is performed under the assumption of elastic behavior for EMC. Furthermore, to solve the limitations, the material properties at the molding temperature and the degree of reaction rate at the end of the molding process of EMC are considered together for the analysis. This numerical analysis gives the higher warpage values than the measured ones, and is applicable to the practical design of the reliable electronic package.     

Effective sludge solubilization treatment by simultaneous use of ultrasonic and electrochemical processes.

Sludge disintegration treatment by using simultaneously ultrasonic irradiation and electrolysis was investigated experimentally. A lab-scale diaphragm cell irradiated with ultrasound at a constant oscillating frequency of 20 kHz was used as a reactor. The batch experiments were carried out under different conditions of electric outputs of the ultrasonic generator, electric current for the electrolysis and different initial SS concentrations. A simultaneous treatment in the cathodic compartment without any chemical doses considerably facilitated the sludge solubilization, compared to the sonication alone. An increase in the electric current up to 400 mA under a constant ultrasonic density decreased the specific energy by 55% within the experimental range. The specific energy consumption was also reduced when the initial SS concentration increased. In addition, before carrying out the simultaneous treatment, a brief electrolysis was effective for further reduction of the specific energy and the acceleration of soluble COD generation.     

Development and experimental evaluation of aerodynamic lens as an aerosol inlet of single particle mass spectrometry

This study described a development and an experimental evaluation of an efficient aerodynamic lens inlet of the single particle mass spectrometry. Several key designing parameters and systematic factors were investigated for the whole lens system through a full numerical simulation. From many tests for various designs of the system, we showed that Mach number was not an independent parameter but interrelated well with flow Reynolds numbers and pressures upstream of the orifices. By manipulating the parameters, we showed for the first time a possibility that there exist a universal correlation between optimal Stokes number and a new factor incorporating the other dimensionless variables and a design parameter. The universality was confirmed by the full simulation results. We demonstrated that the new design of the system was capable of focusing ultrafine aerosols in the size range of 30–700 nm. At two different operating conditions, the formations of sub-millimeter beams of 30–300 nm NaCl aerosols are verified by light scattering imaging as well as microprobe observation of deposited aerosol beams. Finally, the measured sizes of aerosol beams agree reasonably well with those from the simulations as a function of particle size.     

Thermal Stability of the Pigments Hydroxysafflor Yellow A, Safflor Yellow B, and Precarthamin from Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius)

ABSTRACT Three major yellow pigments were isolated from safflower petals ( Carthamus tinctorius ) and characterized as hydroxysafflor yellow A (1), safflor yellow B (2), and precarthamin (3) by ¹H-NMR, ¹H-¹H COSY, ¹³C-NMR, HMQC, and HMBC spectral analysis. Thermal degradation reactions of 3 yellow pigments 1 to 3 at temperatures of 70 to 90 °C were carried out at different pH levels within the range of 3.0 to 10.0 by UV-vis spectral measurements. First-order reaction kinetics was observed for the degradation of safflower yellow pigments (1 to 3) at pH 3.0 and 5.0. Activation energies of thermal degradation of 1-3 at pH 5.0 were calculated as 17.0, 15.4, and 20.1 kcal/mol, respectively. At neutral and alkaline conditions, yellow pigments 1-3 did not follow simple first-order kinetics.     

The Fabrication and Characterization of Single‐Component Polymeric White‐Light‐Emitting Diodes

By using Ni⁰‐mediated polymerization, we have systematically synthesized a series of fluorene‐based copolymers composed of blue‐, green‐, and red‐light‐emitting comonomers with a view to producing polymers with white‐light emission. 2,7‐Dibromo‐9,9‐dihexylfluorene, {4‐(2‐[2,5‐dibromo‐4‐{2‐(4‐diphenylamino‐phenyl)‐vinyl}‐phenyl]‐vinyl)‐phenyl}‐diphenylamine (DTPA), and 2‐{2‐(2‐[4‐{bis(4‐bromo‐phenyl)amino}‐phenyl]‐vinyl)‐6‐tert‐butyl‐pyran‐4‐ylidene}‐malononitrile (TPDCM) were used as the blue‐, green‐, and red‐light‐emitting comonomers, respectively. It was found that the emission spectra of the resulting copolymers could easily be tuned by varying their DTPA and TPDCM content. Thus with the appropriate red/green/blue (RGB) unit ratio, we were able to obtain white‐light emission from these copolymers. A white‐light‐emitting diode using the polyfluorene copolymer containing 3 % green‐emitting DTPA and 2 % red‐emitting TPDCM (PG3R2) with a structure of indium tin oxide/poly(3,4‐ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonic acid)/PG3R2/Ca/Al was found to exhibit a maximum brightness of 820 cd m^–2 at 11 V with Commission Internationale de L'Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (0.33,0.35), which are close to the standard CIE coordinates for white‐light emission (0.33,0.33).     

Inhibition of natural killer cell cytotoxicity by cell growth-related molecules

Certain MHC class I molecules on target cells are known to inhibit the cytotoxic action of NK cells. By using monoclonal antibody (mAb) Cho-1, we have found inhibitory non-MHC class I cell surface molecules that are noncovalently-associated with 200 kDa and 40 kDa antigens. Poly I-C-induced rat NK cells were not cytotoxic to rat fetus-derived fibroblast WFB cell line. In contrast, NK cells were cytotoxic to H-ras oncogene-induced transformants of WFB, W14 and W31. FACS analysis indicated that mAb Cho-1 reacts with WFB, but not with W14 and W31 cells. Thus, this antigen may disappear concomitantly with cell growth and transformation. Cho-1 antigens were also expressed on other NK-resistant lines, such as mouse BALB3T3 fibroblast, EL-4 lymphoma and human fibroblast HEPM. However, they were not expressed on NK-sensitive mouse YAC-1 and H-ras transformant (Brash) of BALB3T3 cells. Furthermore, treatment of target cells with IFN-gamma clearly induced the cell surface expression of Cho-1 antigens, and conferred a resistance to NK cytolysis on target cells. These data strongly suggest that Cho-1 antigen expression may correlate with target cell susceptibility to NK cells. Indeed, treatment of NK-resistant WFB as well as HEPM cells with F(ab')2 fragments of mAb Cho-1 resulted in the acquisition of susceptibility to NK cytolysis. Cho-1 antigens may be novel molecules that regulate the NK resistance of cells.     

K-ras gene mutations: an unfavorable prognostic marker in stage I lung adenocarcinoma

Activation of K-ras gene by point mutations, a common finding in lung adenocarcinomas, has been suggested to decrease patient survival. We investigated 109 lung adenocarcinomas, mostly small, peripheral, stage I tumours (81/109) for presence of K-ras gene mutations at codons 12 and 13. Mutations were detected by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of specific sequences amplified by polymerase chain reaction from DNA extracted from archival pathological material. Thirty-three of 109 (30.3%) tumours showed mutations at codon 12 (28/33, 84.8%) or 13 (5/33, 15.2%) of the gene. Mutations and type of nucleotide substitutions were differently distributed among cytological subtypes, being more prevalent among less differentiated (G2 and G3) tumours and among bronchial than bronchiolo-alveolar type adenocarcinomas. Survival analysis showed an adverse effect of K-ras mutation on survival, restricted to stage I tumours. Median survival for 81 stage I patients was 30 months for non-mutated tumours versus 20 months for mutated tumours (p = 0.016). Multivariate analysis showed that age of patient (p = 0.001) and K-ras mutation status (p = 0.04) were the only independent factors influencing survival significantly. These data strengthen the hypothesis that K-ras gene mutations may be useful in identifying a subgroup of patients with poor outcome.